It seems there was much joy and exhuberance last October. So much so that there is soon to be a whole new crop of Red Sox Fans about to be born this summer! If you will be welcoming a little "Manny", "Johnny", or "Big Baby Papi" this summer, send us your story! We'll send you a free infant tee around your due date. And congratulations!

Due Date: July 29, 2005

I KNEW I wasn't just seeing preggy women everywhere because I am a preggy woman. Thank you for validating my husband Greg's and my belief that there is a Boston Baby Boom - thanks to the Sox!

Looks to me that "there was a lot of energy" beginning with the Yankees series... and continuing straight through to the post World Series glow... We think we conceived October 30th.

Now we are just trying to agree on the name... ;-)

- Greg & Jennifer Moon

UPDATE from the Moon Family: Our Red Sox baby joined the world on August 4th, a stubborn week late -- and definitely with the "staying power" to be a Sox fan! Her name is Sydney Alden Moon -- once we looked at her sweet little face, Big Pappi Moon seemed a little much ;-)

Due Date: July 7, 2005

My wife & I happened to be in San Francisco during the first 2 games of the World Series. She's a New England native, and was crushed we couldn't be back at home... but we wandered around until we found a Boston-friendly sports bar. We found a group of dislocated New Englanders and joined in the ruckus. After the Sox won the second game, they were on a 6 game winning streak, and our last night in San Fran, we celebrated back at the hotel...

- Will Bailey

Due Date: July 14, 2005

When folks see that I'm pregnant and say congratulations; in return I say its "Our Red Sox World Series Baby". My husband is one of the biggest fans I know around and is very superstitious.

During all the Big Games he wore the same pair of shorts and in hopes to turn things around for game 4 against the Yankees he then turned his shorts inside out and they stayed that way for the rest of all the games and he would not let me wash them. He also wore the same shirt (Patriots Superbowl Champ Shirt) w/ Trot Nixon Baseball shirt over it, sat in the same chair and I had to make the same nacho dip. I too had to sit in the same exact location as each game started during the ALCS series & World Series. He also decided to add a little extra tradition as each Red Sox Victory; we then had to have our own late night celebration which I did tell him could result to a new addition to the family. And now we are expecting baby #3 on July 14th. If the baby is a boy it will have a 2nd middle of Varitek and right now tossing up the 1st name of Bronso. And if it is a Girl the 2nd middle name of Reese.

I have only seen my husband shed some tears 4 times in my life. The death of his aunt, the birth of our children Jacob & Gabriella and the 4th time was the night the Sox Won the World Series. What made it extra special that night was that our son Jacob happened to wake up and watched the game with his dad and we also then received a call from his Father watching those last 5 minutes together. All generations were awake for that Great Moment in time.

- Rebecca Cronin

UPDATE: Weighing in at 7lbs, Cameron Daniel Varitek Cronin was born on July 15, 2005 at 5:09am! Congratulations to the Cronin Family!

Due Date: July 16, 2005

We had been trying for a second child for a few months, when "that time" came again during the Red Sox/Yankees playoffs. Needless to say, "trying" came easy with the excitement of the series, despite the consecutive nights of little to no sleep. It was shortly after the unthinkable, when the Red Sox became World Series Champions, that we found out we were pregnant again, due on July 16th. Just when the shock of the Red Sox winning the World Series was wearing off, we were shocked with yet another wonderful surprise.... TWIN boys. We will soon be a family of 5, all huge Red Sox fans.

- Gary & Lori Peeples

Due Date: July 9, 2005

Although we moved 3000 miles away from Boston over a year ago we are still ardent Red Sox fans--especially my husband. Nearly as great as his love for the Sox is his hatred of the Yankees (aka the evil empire). Last fall, we had been "trying" for quite a while, and after the final, unbelievable Yankees Red Sox showdown we were successful. We are expecting a new hardcore Red Sox fan on July 9, much to our delight.

- Kara Upchurch

Due Date: July 19, 2005

Well I'm sure you have heard this one before but our bundle of joy, Damon Charles Michael Thompson is set to join the world on the 19th of July. We knew 100% the date of conception when we went to the Ob/GYN that first time.

After having tried for a while to usher in the newest generation we had taken a break during the Series play-offs and lead up to the big game. Seeing that our beloved Sox were in the hunt and going big we thought that we'd devote our attention to something else for a while.

Now I'm not going to lie here, after the shut down of the Angels and the poor showing in the first three games of the ALCS we were both a little deflated but once Dave stole second in game four we knew the tide was changing.

October 27, 2004.... The night seems like that of a dream now. In the after glow of the greatest comeback of all time, as well as the biggest choke job in baseball history, and the subsequent domination of the Cardinals we decided to celebrate in the way that two young love birds do and the rest my friends is history. Nine months to the day....

- Andy Thompson

Due Date: June 19, 2005

Similar to the stories you listed in the Jan/Feb stories, we also are expecting a Red Sox baby, but in late June. Ours was a product of wins over the Yankees (in NY!) in their last meeting of the season. You should start a 'red sox babies' link. I have often been curious about how many there will be out there. And a maternity shirt noting the arrival of a future red sox fan would be great. Especially for those of us who will head to the games this spring and can't fit into our other sox shirts. As added incentive, we recently moved to the NYC area due to my husband's job and would love to flash that shirt around! Just a thought!

- Andrea Little Limbago

Due Date: July 20, 2005

Just read your most recent Sox stories for January, from Suzie in PA... I have a feeling there are going to be a lot of "Sox Babies" coming in to the world around July time. My fiancee (an Irish girl, more than up for being converted from supporting... well, no baseball team to supporting the Sox) and I are expecting our first child in July of 2005... similar story to Suzie's... must have been all that World Series excitement.

Forget all those kids born 9 months after the blizzard of '78, we've got a new generation with a new story.

I just have to figure out how to slip the name Pedro Curt Johnny Trot Papi Manny on to the birth certificate before she's *too* aware of what I'm doing.

- Matt Hanlon

Due Date: August 4, 2005

I live in Pittsburgh, a city that affectionately refers to itself as a "drinking town with a football problem". There is of course a perfectly lovely National League baseball team here, but the locals are not baseball fans as a rule. In spite of this, I managed to find and marry a Pennsylvania boy who not only loved the game but also was very willing to join the Red Sox Nation. I knew I had chosen well the first time he willingly drove the 588 miles each way to Fenway in a mere 48 hours. We'd spend the game on the phone with my father, a huge Red Sox fan, now retired and living in Arizona, so he could be with us vicariously.

Like all Red Sox fans I wanted this to be the year. And, like many foolish fans, I wanted it AFTER beating the Yankees. I actually rooted against the Twins, a fact that seemed incredibly idiotic on October 17, 2004. Don't we all remember how we felt the morning after Game 3 of the ALCS? I watched every painful minute of Game 3, even though it made me cry. The next morning, when my husband and I were in the car I started to cry again. I can still see him look at me and say with a completely sincere face, "Suzie, I don't think we should have children. I can not put another generation of your family through this." And, I agreed.

When we got home, I called my father, who assured me - this was the year. He told me that Derek Lowe would pitch like a man who was about to be a free agent, and that the Sox would never be swept at home. Encouraged by my father's words of wisdom I watched Game Four with hope. In spite of having to be at the hospital for my 6 am shift, I was wide awake when David Ortiz hit the home run the changed everything. We all know what happened after that. All of a sudden, the world was a different place. You may recall, after that, the Red Sox won the World Series.

But my story does not end here. Many weeks later, I developed the worst illness I'd had in years. I was sick for almost two weeks before it occurred to me to take a pregnancy test. (Yes, I'm a doctor, and No, I'm not usually this bad of a doctor.) The test was, of course - unbelievably, unexpectedly, positive. I had an ultrasound a few days later, and on December 15, 2004 I found out that I was exactly seven weeks pregnant. Seven weeks earlier, the Red Sox had won the World Series.

Apparently, my ovaries finally felt it was safe to bring a child into this world. My husband and I know that little Damon Orlando Ortiz Manny Varitek will never have to hear the chants of "1918". Clearly though, we remain a little concerned about that whole "first born child" promise we may or may not have made during the heat of the moment.